As Portland awaits a ruling on President Donald Trump’s authority over the National Guard, the court is showing signs it may back Trump. At present, there is a district court order blocking the president from deploying troops in the city, but now the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has the case, and it seems the judges are skeptical of the lower court’s ruling.
The district court’s decision in State of Oregon v. Donald J. Trump, a case that questions the president’s authority to federalize the National Guard to quell protests outside the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) building in Portland, is he has overreached. But questions from a three-judge panel in the circuit court on Thursday, October 9, indicated their skepticism. Judge Ryan D. Nelson, a Trump-appointee, grilled attorneys for the state of Oregon and city of Portland:
“I am sort of trying to figure out how a district court of any nature is supposed to get in and question whether the president’s assessment of executing the laws is right or wrong.
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“And so when the president comes in and says, look, we’ve got 115 FPS forces that aren’t normally in Portland and we’ve had to move them, this is straining our ability to execute the laws. I don’t understand how you can question the behind the scenes to say, ‘oh no, that can’t be right.’ I mean, we don’t have a view into what laws are trying to be executed or how they’re being impinged …”
The circuit court temporarily lifted the district court’s order blocking the Oregon National Guard, specifically, from being deployed to Portland and kept the unit federalized. In the patchwork of rulings indicative of the legal wrangling, however, another order remains in effect prohibiting the National Guard from any state being deployed to Portland, thus leaving the situation on the ground unchanged in practice.
But Camilla Wamsley, director for the Portland ICE office, told Fox that the agency’s facility had faced violence for more than 100 nights. She described violent actions that included the building’s gates and windows being broken, fires being lit, security cameras vandalized, and lasers being aimed at federal officers’ eyes. In a sworn statement, she also reportedly said that federal law enforcement had made more than 20 arrests over a roughly three-week period during the summer.
Democratic leaders in California, Illinois, and Oregon have resisted President Donald Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to Democrat-run cities plagued by political anti-ICE protests and crime. But the Portland police union president has deviated from that narrative.
This comes against the backdrop of a law enforcement shortage and reportedly high anti-cop sentiment in the Portland City Council meetings. That’s what Sgt. Aaron Schmautz, president of the Portland Police Association, told Fox News Digital. Schmautz signaled being amenable to accepting help from federal agents in combatting the city’s crime.
Schmautz told FOX News Digital:
“Let’s present what resources we have to bring to bear to accomplish that task. And if it’s not sufficient, then we need help. And so, you know, again, I don’t want to be drawn into a hard yes or no. What I want is for us all to identify the problem and work together as a whole of government to solve the problem.”
Schmautz told FOX News Digital he was “extraordinarily sympathetic” to federal law enforcement agents who are afraid for their safety under a barrage of attacks at ICE facilities across the country and referenced the recent ICE shooting in Dallas. “There are federal officers being hit by cars,” he added. “And, you know, in a world where we have different perspectives about politics, it’s one thing to have policy discussions and everything else. But no one should be OK with violence directed at anyone.”
On the other hand, Portland Mayor Keith Wilson reportedly ordered the police tape barrier around the ICE building in South Portland to be removed this week, over the federal government’s request for a perimeter around the ICE location, according to a report on oregonlive.com.
What do these contradictions mean for leaders who want federal help? How will their support play out in getting city and state leaders onboard to keep federal troops on the ground safe?
If the police union president continues to voice his opposition to the official leftist narrative, perhaps productive conversations between the administration and local and state leaders could ensue. That’s if the safety of the public and federal agents is truly the goal.